


I took their pain

by LoviNek



Series: Short hobbit stories [1]
Category: The Hobbit (2012)
Genre: AU! Bilbo has a gift, Other, everybody lives except hobbit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-30
Updated: 2013-01-30
Packaged: 2017-11-27 11:56:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoviNek/pseuds/LoviNek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No could know about his… ability. His gift, his mother always told him, was special and he should never use it. Never. She told him that one last time, before she closed her eyes and died in her bed. He could save her. But she didn’t want him to. Now, he was alone with the power to take pain, and no one knew about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I took their pain

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I am new to this. English is not my native language. Be kind to me, please. It’s not corrected. But I think that you will enjoy.  
> PS: Character death, and a little AU! This idea haunted me for far too long. And I am a little sorry now for writing it, but I still like it. Enjoy, I hope! XD

No one could know about his… ability. His gift, his mother always told him, was special and he should never use it. Never. She told him that one last time, before she closed her eyes and died in her bed. He could save her. But she didn’t want him to. Now, he was alone with the power to take pain, and no one knew about it.

Thorin hugged him and Bilbo couldn’t stop himself. He smiled and released his power, his gift. He felt pain, felt his ribs crack, felt wounds appear on his skin. But he was still smiling and Thorin looked happy for the first time, since they meet. A few wounds and cracked ribs were a small price to pay for the King’s smile. Later Oin and Thorin wondered how Thorin was in such good shape, but Bilbo didn’t say anything. He simply sat near the fire and endured the pain, Thorin’s pain, in silence. It was third time he used his gift. And still no one knew about it. No one. Only Gandalf looked at him from under his hat. And if Gandalf suspected anything, Bilbo didn’t know about it.

The first time he used his gift was when he was just a little boy. He only remembered a little girl with a broken arm and her pain-filled cry. He wanted so much to take away that pain. And when he touched that girl, his own arm broke and the girl was healthy again. Later there was pain and lots of shouting and his father was so angry with his mother. Belladonna took him to a healer and whispered in his ear: _You will be all right. If no one knows about it you will be all right._ And he never ever told anyone about that day.

The second time he used he was in a forest. He was young, his father had just died and he did not want to be at home. He saw a few men who were hunting. They caught him and wanted to _“play”_ with him. He was struggling, shouting, and one of them hit him hard. They started to beat him, laughing while they did it, and he only wanted the pain to go away. And suddenly one of them was yelling, his face bloody, and other one was coughing up blood. They ran away, leaving Bilbo sprawled on the ground. He was all right; he didn’t even have a bruise, but his clothes were dirty and bloody in a few places. And he was scared. He ran home, cried in his mother’s arms and she told him: _You will never use it again without the need. You will never tell anyone about your gift. They will want to use it. Don’t tell anyone._ And so he never did. 

Bilbo didn’t want to use his gift. Not even when, after The Battle, there were people everywhere who needed help. He knew he couldn’t take so much pain. Not with his small and weak body. But then he saw Thorin, Kili and Fili lying in a tent, dying in front of his eyes, and he made a decision. He asked for a moment of privacy, took their big hands in his own and smiled.

“What are you doing?” Thorin asked him. He saw tears on the hobbit’s cheeks, but his eyes were insane and determined. His smile was also mad.

“Don’t worry, my King. Everything is going to be all right. Trust me.” Bilbo said, and Thorin couldn’t help falling into darkness.

When he woke up, he was in one of a healing tents. He was tired, he was wounded, but he was alive. And his nephews were asleep next to him. They’d won The Battle. They were alive. And something was not right about it.

“You are awake.”

Thorin looked at Balin, who was smiling at him. But his smile was sad and he couldn’t meet Thorin’s eyes. It wasn’t right. They’d won. Why was Balin so sad?

“Who died?” the black-haired dwarf asked, when Balin moved closer.

“Not as many as we expected. Beorn and the eagles were a big help, and the orcs started running after you killed Azog. All of the dwarves from our Company are alive.”

“And the Halfling?”

Balin looked away and Thorin swallowed loudly. He’d seen Bilbo in this tent. He’d been crying and smiling. And he’d been alive. They’d been dying and the Hobbit had been alive.  
“Where is the Hobbit?” he asked again, and sat up. Kili and Fili were startled awake, but that wasn’t important now.

“He survived The Battle with nothing but a scratch. He saw you and asked us for time. We all thought he wanted to say his goodbyes. We all did. You were dying, Thorin. Fili and Kili too. No one could do anything to help you.”

“But we’re alive now.” Fili said quietly, his hands moving to his brother’s face, like he couldn’t believe he was there.

“Where is Bilbo?!” Thorin repeated, louder. Something in him was shouting, he didn’t want to know. If he didn’t know, it could not hurt him.

“He walked here and few minutes later I followed him. He was sitting on the ground. He was hugging your hands to his chest. He looked at me, smiled, and suddenly there were blood everywhere on him.” Balin was crying now. Big tears disappeared in his white beard. He met Thorin’s eyes and there was pain in them. “I couldn’t do anything. He was choking on blood and when I caught him, he smiled again. _They will live,_ he said. _I took their pain._ And then he closed his eyes and stopped breathing. I couldn’t help him, Thorin. He died in my arms.”

Thorin didn’t move, didn’t look away. He heard his nephews start sobbing quietly, but he couldn’t do anything. Everything going to be all right, Bilbo had said to him. Those had been his last words. And before the Battle:

_“You betrayed us! You took the Arkenstone…”_

_“I wanted to help you, Thorin! To save you! Why can’t you just understand that?”_

_“And where is your help? We are alone and no one will help us! The orcs…”_

_“Everything is going to be all right. Trust me.”_ Bilbo had sacrificed himself. Had given away his life. Had taken away their pain. But Thorin couldn’t understand why. They weren’t his kin. He’d had his home, his life in the Shire. And he’d just given it to strangers. They were strangers to him, not his family, just his… 

_“If I had to call someone my friend, it would be you, Thorin. You and your whole Company. I didn’t like you in the beginning, but now I would give my life for you. Take your pain. Save you. I am just a simple Hobbit, but I will do everything that I can to help you reclaim your home.”_

“He was just a simple Hobbit.” Thorin said quietly. He had tears in his eyes. “And he was my friend. I wish I could thank him for his sacrifice.” 

Kili and Fili were crying openly, and Balin was staring at him. And Thorin was praying, in his heart, that Bilbo would forgive him for his stubbornness and every ill word he’d ever told him. 

Sad songs were sung, when the dwarves were burying their fallen warriors under the mountain. Sad songs in Khuzdul, sung in low and deep voices. Heartbreaking, beautiful songs. Thorin looked at Bilbo’s body one last time before they buried him. He was so small, but the King knew that he was the strongest in all of the Company. Thorin, Kili and Fili sang the loudest, thanking him and saying goodbye at the same time. They owed him their lives. And from then on, they resolved to try to be worthy of his sacrifice, and the new life he’d given to them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for correcting this to ~Siazi. It means so much to me^^


End file.
